September 14, 2021

Meet Robert Tinsley of Peachtree Corners

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Tinsley.

Hi Robert, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I graduated from Georgia Tech with a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering back in 2003 and started working as a Radio Frequency Engineer at EMS Technologies, which has since been acquired by Honeywell. I got married to a UGA grad and we have 2 boys, now ages 9 and 7. About 5 years ago, I saw a Facebook post from a friend of mine from high school showing him as a zombie in the tv show The Walking Dead. We had our high school reunion soon after and I asked about how he was able to do that. He told me about several extra casting pages on Facebook where they post when they need background actors for TV shows and movies. Soon after I applied to one of the ones for The Walking Dead and got cast as a background Savior, one of the bad guys in the show. When I got to the studios, we got propped up with unloaded firearms and filmed a scene with Jeffrey Dean Morgan walking out on the platform in front of us and telling us “We are going to war!”. We all yelled back “Yes Sir!” I was hooked. When I got home, I looked up what else was filming in Georgia and discovered that the Avengers Infinity Wars and Endgame movies were going to be filmed here. I registered with Central Casting downtown in order to be eligible for those and other productions. Meanwhile, I have kept my day job as an RF Engineer with 2 patents filed and have moved on to Envistacom as a Principal RF/Antenna/Microwave Engineer.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For my day job, it was a challenge working for a much larger company with all the red tape involved. Also the work is always a challenge especially when you are struggling to get hardware to work but we always end up figuring out a solution. As for background acting, there have been some very long days including some overnights, very early mornings, and very cold or hot outside temperatures. Sometimes you have to go to the studio for a fitting and sometimes you don’t get used on the day of filming which is disappointing. Since the pandemic has started, we now have to take a COVID test before a fitting and another before the day of filming, which can be challenging to fit into my work schedule.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I design and test wireless communication hardware for aerospace and defense applications. I have received 2 Outstanding Engineer Awards at Honeywell and filed 2 patents. Also I was a background actor in the last 2 Avengers Movies, Wandavision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Ozark, Stranger Things, and many other productions as many different types of roles (cop, military, etc.). I even show up in Marvel’s and The Walking Dead’s Wiki pages!

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
For those just starting out in background acting, you need have patience in this industry as there is a lot of waiting around so bring something to do during those times. At first, I was against working overnight shoots but then I figured out that if I took a nap in the afternoon, I could work all night and then sleep some more in the morning in order to be functional the next afternoon. As for RF engineering, aside from getting a degree in it, make sure you learn from your coworkers as they have a wealth of experience. Talk through your problems and don’t work in isolation as discussing it will help you figure out the best path forward.

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